Sunday, May 29, 2011
Going Green…
Here's the story: I come home from Oklahoma with the urge to knit but no brain with which to think. Allergies and a cold have turn all grey matter to mush. So, I sit down on the floor, dig out a few balls of mostly Colinette hand-dyed yarn in a shade of undergrowth that happens to go with much of my green summer wardrobe. I'm thinking vest, that is in as much as I'm able to think at all. I cast on 40 stitches on size 11 needles and just start knitting with no fixed address. I'm thinking this will be a plain garment for me, 'plain' being defined as having only one hue (well, multiple tones there of) and designed to wear over my collection of green tops.
Everything is intuitive, nothing is thought-out or planned, though as usual I have a kind of pilot light shining in the back of my mind (attempting to penetrate the gloom). In this kind of knitting, additions can always be made, pieces picked up and knit, adjustments created modular-style, until something wearable emerges sized to fit me alone. No, the word guage is never mentioned in public.
I work seed, basketweave, garter and a few rows of yarn-over-knit-two-togethers. I do not fret or fiddle. When the back is 'finished', I realize it's not quite wide enough so I add an inch on either side by picking up and knitting along the edges. The fronts develop like organic creatures growing down the front in primarily seed stitch. When they hang down to the same length as the back, I switch to circulars and pick up along the entire inner edge. Now, I work garter with the intention of adding a row of yarnover-knit-two-together for it's lacy, edging, effect.
Today, a Sunday, my green vest is almost complete. I donned it last night (circulars still attached) and realize I guite like it but it's too short. By tonight, I'll have added a few inches along the bottom and will post pictures.
PS: You can knit like this, too. Why not give it a try?